Wada Yimasa was a meritorious official who supported Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and her interests were consistent with those of Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Letting her serve as the guardian of Settsu would help Ashikaga Yoshiaki consolidate his position.

In fact, the Settsu Kingdom was not conquered by the shogunate and Oda coalition forces, but the Settsu people took the initiative to rebel and sold the Miyoshi family.

The shogunate cannot control the Northwest Settsu, and does not want to take advantage of the Oda family. It is the best choice to give the local powerful Ikeda family and Itami family the guardianship position and win them over to serve the shogunate.

But the three guardians of Settsu were all divided by the shogunate itself. Oda Nobunaga's force and Matsunaga's lips and tongue were all defeated by Ashikaga Yoshiaki Haku. There is nothing such a good thing in the world, right?

Wada Weimasa said.

"His Majesty Oda is busy with the war, but he is not idle in private either.

Miyoshi Yasunaga told me that the Oda family has sent someone to contact wealthy merchants at Sakai Port, namely Kyoto garrison Hideyoshi Hashiba."

Ashikaga Yoshiaki frowned slightly, Oda Nobunaga actually attacked Sakai Minato without telling him?

At this time, she seemed to have forgotten that she and Wada Nobunaga were calculating behind Oda Nobunaga's back. She only felt that Oda Nobunaga acted without authorization and disrespected her Ashikaga general.

In Ashikaga Yoshiaki's thinking, she is a noble Ashikaga general. Whatever she does is for the sake of Ashikaga, there is nothing she cannot do.

But when it comes to Oda Nobunaga, he is an arrogant minister of a foreign domain who does things in a reckless manner without knowing the importance of it.

Abbreviation, double standard.

Wada Weimasa saw that Ashikaga Yoshiaki's face turned cold and said immediately.

"Matsu Nagahide seems to be respectful to the shogunate, but he is always loyal to His Majesty Oda. His intentions are clearly revealed."

Ashikaga Yoshiaki was even more unhappy and said.

"Three surnamed domestic slaves cannot be trusted."

Matsunagahide successively sought refuge with the Miyoshi, Ashikaga, and Oda families. Although it is unpleasant to say that she is a slave of the three surnames, it is not unfair.

Wada Weimasa became increasingly displeased when he saw Ashikaga Yoshiaki and struck while the railroad was hot.

"The Miyoshi family is willing to withdraw from Sakai Port, and His Majesty Oda is interested in Sakai Port. It is better to use Sakai Port as a reward for the Oda family to send troops and allow the Oda family to send people to manage it.

As for Matsunagahide, isn’t she serving under His Majesty Oda? Let’s ask His Majesty Oda to reward her for her contribution this time.”

Ashikaga Yoshiaki felt something was wrong.

The shogunate sent troops to seize Jin this time, and foreign ministers from various families participated in it. This was an act of honoring the public.

Is it too much to refuse Matsunagahide's reward and ask her to ask for it from Oda Nobunaga? Ashikaga Yoshiaki, a general, is somewhat thin-skinned, not as thick-skinned as Wada Weimasa.

However, Wada Weimasa did not casually smear Matsu Nagahide, but deliberately suppressed him.

She wants to be the guardian of Higashi Settsu, and the best castle to live in is Takaki Castle, which is right under her feet.

Takaki Castle is the gateway to and from Settsu, a mountainous city. The benefits of the Yodogawa Waterway are so great that who wouldn’t salivate?

Matsunagahide occupies Yodo Castle on the other side of Yamashiro Country, and he must also want to capture Takaki Castle and the entire gateway into and out of the Kyoto Basin.

Wouldn’t it be nice to sit on the ground and collect money?

Without reducing Matsunagahide to nothing, how could Wada Weimasa snatch away the fat piece of Takatsuki Castle?

In addition to the dispute over the Yodogawa waterway, the Matsunaga family and the Wada family also had a deeper conflict.

At first, Miyoshi Chokei placed Matsunagahide in Yodo Castle to supervise the movements of the Kyoto shogunate. He assigned the samurai family on the border of Settsu Province to Matsunagahide for management.

If Wada Yaomasa wants to be a powerful guardian of Higashi Settsu, he must suppress Matsunagahide so that the Takayama family and other local samurai families in Higashi Settsu can switch to him.

There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. This contradiction is irreconcilable and the only way is for the east wind to prevail over the west wind.

Wada Yaimai spoke for the shogunate, but in her heart she only cared about herself. In order to kick out the influence of Matsunagahide from Higashisettsu, she stabbed him in the back and spoke all kinds of slanderous words.

This time when he went to Sakai Port, Wada Weimasa not only met Miyoshi Yasunaga, but also met with Ikeda Itami, the governor of the family.

It is in the interest of the three families to protect the three Settsu families, but the Oda family's army attacking Settsu is a sharp sword hanging over everyone's heads.

Is it because Miyoshi Yoshitsugu is willing to surrender and Miyoshi Yasunaga is willing to withdraw from Sakai Port because of Ashikaga Yoshiaki's power as a shogun? Nonsense, it's just because Oda's army is coming fiercely and we can't defeat it.

Wouldn't it be nice to use Ashikaga Yoshiaki's reputation as a general to suppress an outsider like Oda Nobunaga, and then everyone hides behind to get the benefits?

It was not that Ashikaga Yoshiaki knew nothing about the thoughts of people like Wada Yaimasa, but Wada Yaimasa had one sentence that captured her worries.

Oda Nobunaga's territory already has two million koku, and she is actively coming to Settsu Country to expand, which poses a great threat to the shogunate.

If you are not in your position, you will not pursue your political goals.

After using deceitful tactics to take away Yoshihiro Shiba, Ashikaga Yoshiaki desperately needed to prove that he was a good general. Just like Li Shimin killed Li Jiancheng, he had to prove that he was a better emperor.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki tacitly allowed Wada Weimasa to change the situation. He was the usual balancing act of the Ashikaga shogun family. He had been tried and tested for two hundred years. Ashikaga Yoshiaki could be regarded as a self-taught master.

But she was a little worried about giving such a big fat piece of meat from Sakai Port to Oda Nobunaga.

"Although the three guardians of Settsu have no share in the Oda family, Oda-hime got the Sakai Port. Isn't it considered a jackpot?"

Wada Weimasa heard the hidden meaning of Ashikaga Yoshiaki and smiled.

"Master Gongfang, the Miyoshi family has withdrawn from Sakai Port, but the Shiba family is still there."

Ashikaga Yoshiaki was stunned for a moment, then he immediately reacted and laughed.

"Yes, the Miyoshi family has withdrawn from Sakai Port, and the Shiba family should assume more important responsibilities for the shogunate in Sakai Port. I believe Tsutado-den will not refuse, right?"

Wada Weimasa bowed.
Chapter completed!